Memorials › Dorothy Ann Simunek Willis-Turner

Dorothy Ann Simunek Willis-Turner

30 Aug 1932 – 15 Jan 2021

Birth30 Aug 1932
Death15 Jan 2021
CemeterySpringfield National Cemetery
Springfield , Greene County , Missouri , USA
Added byDwaine Desselle on 08 Mar 2021
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/221268460

Bio

Dorothy Willis Turner, was the second of five children born to Joseph and Anna Simunek. She arrived on August 30th of 1932 in the small west Oklahoma town of Bison. It was a rough time to start out, but the family’s Czech heritage and a strong sense of family, firmly staked in the 1889 land rush, sustained them through the roughest of times on the Oklahoma plain. Dorothy is survived by her big brother Raymond (b. 1931) and sister in-law Janelle, and baby brother Billy Joe (b. 1944) and sister-in-law Patsy. She was preceded to heaven by sisters Doris Cates, and Rosalee Trabalka. At 18, Dorothy had gone to work for the telephone company in Enid, Oklahoma, lending her income to support her parent’s household. (She would remain with “the telephone company” through a series of moves, promotions, and evolutions of technology until she retired in 1993.) While attending a dance in the mid 50’s, she met a young airman stationed at near-by Vance Air Force Base. That young man from tiny New Hartford, Missouri was Walter Kenneth Willis. She and Walter were eventually married in Enid on October 26, 1956. Their first two children were born in Oklahoma: Debbie and Diane. The family then moved to Mexico, Missouri in 1960 where the couple endured one further separation when Walter was sent to Alaska. He left the Air Force after that assignment, and their third child, Duane. It was Dorothy’s work as a telephone operator that would become key to sustaining the family when Walter was seriously injured in an industrial accident in the mid-60s. Thus, it was with the reorganization of the telephone industry in 1977, that Dorothy was compelled to accept a transfer and move the family to Springfield, Missouri. Settling into a new community Dorothy and Walter sought and found new friends and immense fun as members of the Coordinators Square Dancing Club. Debbie married Bill Aldrich. Duane married Jennifer, and Diane married Gary Bachman. Daniel, her first grandson was born to Debbie and Bill; Chris followed by Trevor, both born to Duane and Jennifer. And then great-grandson Mason Aldrich was born to Daniel and Karie. Retiring from the telephone company in 1993. In May of 1995, Walter suddenly and unexpectedly died. Over the next couple of years, she grew closer to Orville Turner, a recently widowed friend of Walter’s. Over coffee, their friendship blossomed, and they would eventually marry. Orville’s own family brought a further new dimension to Dorothy’s family life with two already grown and married “step-children,” four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Jim (& Dorothy) Turner, Molly Turner-Altic (& Bill), grandchildren Steven Turner, Julie Turner- Hrenko (& Nick,) Brian Turner (& Janette) and Sonya (& Jon) Trent who upped the ante with great- grandchildren, Jacob and Makayla. All lovingly welcomed her into their lives. Orville sadly passed in 2004. Dorothy remained strongly involved in the Springfield community: volunteering through both the “AT&T Pioneers” and Brentwood Christian Church, she was particularly committed to the nutritional support programs provided by Crosslines of Springfield. Dorothy passed from this life on January 15, 2021. Private interment at Springfield National Cemetery

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